Duvel and Ommegang Collaboration Launches in Philly with Meet-the-Brewer Event

PHILADELPHIA, PA – On Wednesday, November 14 at 6 p.m., Brew Master Phil Leinhart of Cooperstown, NY’s Brewery Ommegang will be at Stateside (1536 Passyunk Avenue, 215-551-2500) to celebrate the launch of Duvel Rustica, a Belgian-style golden ale brewed in collaboration between Ommegang and Belgium’s highly-regarded Duvel brewery. For this special Meet-The-Brewer event, guests will be able to enjoy Duvel Rustica, both in 750 ml, cork finished bottles and on draft, and spend time with Phil who will be discussing this two-years-in-the-making new beer. Event will be pay-as-you-go.

Duvel Rustica is 8.5% ABV brewed with fine pils malts and noble Styrian Golding hops from Slovenia. This collaboration captures the delicate balance of the classic Duvel Belgian Golden Ale – one of the world’s most exalted beers – and adds a touch of the typical rustic fruitiness enhancing every Ommegang ale. This distinctive touch is created by using Ommegang’s proprietary yeast for primary fermentation. The secondary fermentation yeast is also quite interesting, but remains secret.

“In Belgium, Duvel is brewed with simple ingredients, yet is a marvelously complex beer that’s never been convincingly duplicated. So, instead of trying to duplicate it, we imagined a charmingly rustic Duvel, brewed in our farmstead brewery in upstate New York,” says Phil. “Our idea was to embrace all the distinctive qualities of Duvel, yet bring our own craft-brewing skills to the beer. We honored Duvel’s essence while adding a light touch of Ommegang’s signature yeast-driven fruitiness to the flavors and aromas. To our taste, Duvel Rustica is the ultimate of brewing collaborations.”

Hedwig Neven, brew master of Duvel in Belgium, says, “Phil and I dreamed, talked and tasted together all along the way…and I’m proud and delighted with Duvel Rustica, the new American cousin of Duvel.”

Along with tasting the Duvel Rustica, Stateside’s award-winning chef George Sabatino will offer dish suggestions for guests to order and enjoy a great food and beer pairing. Chef Sabatino was recently was named “Best Chef 2012” by Philadelphia Magazine and also won Brewery Ommegang’s Hop Chef competition this past July, where he competed with four other East Coast chefs in a beer and food competition.

Brewery Ommegang, a member of the Duvel Moortgat family of fine beers, opened in 1997 to craft-brew Belgian-style ales. The brewery creates six ales year-round as well as a range of seasonal and specialty ales. The beers have won a national following by connoisseurs of fine beer and are distributed in over 40 states. The brewery is located on a 136-acre farmstead in Cooperstown, New York and offers free daily tours and tastings, as well as a Café, a well-stocked brewery store, and an online store. For more information on Brewery Ommegang, please contact [email protected], call 1-800-544-1809, or visit www.ommegang.com. You can also follow them on Twitter nationally (@BreweryOmmegang) and locally (@OmmegangPhilly) and like them on Facebook.